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Forget about gagging on pills that seem as big as footballs or swallowing liquids that smell like cod-liver oil.

Just about everything from cough medicine to multiple vitamins has been turned into pellets that melt, powders that dissolve and gum balls that can be gobbled like candy.

In most cases, the drugs aren't new, but the way they are delivered is. During the past 40 years, inventors have come up with improved ways to deliver medicine, from time-release pills and skin patches to sprays and strips, said William Soller, executive director of the Center for Consumer Self Care at the University of California at San Francisco.

Often the new products that hit the market are just updates of old ones.

Still, making medications more appealing is a good idea, as any parent who has tried to get a spoonful of pink syrup down a moving target knows.

The only problem: The medicine might taste a little too good to children, said Dan Hooper, chief pharmacist at the University of North Texas Health Science Center.

"If kids like it, parents need to take special caution to keep it out of the reach of their children because they won't know that it is not candy," Hooper said.

While many of the easy-to-take medications are marketed for children, they're not the only ones using powders, pops and chews. Because about 40 percent of adults have trouble swallowing capsules, more companies are targeting them, too.